The northern pike fishery is good here on the area lakes, but for most of the lakes here, it is more of a numbers game with few trophy fish to be found. On many of the lakes, a big pike will be a pike in the mid to upper 30 inch range. Some reports will come in of an occasional 40 inch pike or bigger, but you’re not going to find a lot of huge pike here. If you’re looking for action though, you will definitely find it on so many lakes in this area.
Rideau Chain of Lakes
The Rideau Chain of Lakes is a series of lakes that are connected from the Rideau Canal. The bass fishing on these lakes is flat out awesome for largemouth bass and smallmouth bass. The northern pike fishing is very good for numbers as well with some big fish. Panfish such as perch, bluegill, crappie and rock bass are found throughout the area lakes. Walleye and lake trout are here in limited numbers.
Learn more on our Rideau Chain of Lakes Fishing page.
Frontenac Provincial Park
Anglers have lots of options here if they are up for a little adventure. With canoe routes through 22 lakes and over 100 km of looped backpacking and hiking trails, there are so many places to explore. In the lakes throughout the park, you may catch largemouth bass, smallmouth bass, crappie, northern pike, lake trout, brook trout and perch.
https://www.ontarioparks.com/park/frontenac
Bass Lake
Bass Lake is a smaller lake very close to Big Rideau Lake. It has a resort and a campground on the lake, but no public boat launch. If you want to fish this lake, you will have to go through the businesses here. The fishing is good on Bass Lake for smallmouth bass and northern pike.
Bob’s Lake
Bob’s Lake is a large lake with tons of awesome fishing spots. There are so many bays, points and islands to fish for a variety of species. The lake has lots of largemouth bass and northern pike to go along with smallmouth bass, walleye, crappie, perch, rock bass and bluegill.
Charleston Lake
Charleston Lake is a good fishing lake and it is part of the Charleston Lake Provincial Park. Many people come here to fish, hike, canoe or just enjoy the outdoors. Anglers can target lake trout, smallmouth bass, northern pike, crappie and perch.
https://www.ontarioparks.com/park/charlestonlake
Loughborough Lake
Loughborough Lake is a good bass lake with northern pike and lake trout too. It’s a long lake with over 20 miles of shorelines to fish. Anglers usually come here for the excellent bass fishing. Largemouth bass dominate here and can be found in the shallows around all of the vegetation. Smallmouth bass are usually found in the deeper water along with lake trout.
Lower Beverley Lake & Upper Beverly Lake
These two lakes are located close to some of the better lakes on the Rideau Chain of Lakes. Lower Beverley Lake is considered the better fishing lake of the two. Both lakes have largemouth bass, smallmouth bass and northern pike. Largemouth bass are the primary species of fish here.
Other Lakes in the Area
There are so many more lakes in this area that offer good fishing beyond the bigger, more popular lakes. Most of the smaller lakes will have largemouth bass and smallmouth bass, but largemouth bass will usually be the primary species of fish. Northern pike, lake trout and a variety of panfish will usually be found in these lakes too. If you want to come here and do some exploring on the smaller lakes, make sure to bring a small boat to drop in because some lakes will have boat launches and others won’t.
Best Baits for Northern Pike
Northern pike are known for eating just about everything they can get the mouths on and there is definitely some truth to that. For the most part, if it swims, pike may eat it. There are some baits that definitely will catch more pike than others though. Spinners, crankbaits, spoons, swimbaits and soft plastics are some of the best lures for targeting pike. Live baits such as minnows and perch are great baits too.
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Best Rigs for Northern Pike
There are many different rigs you can use for northern pike, however, since pike are so aggressive, you really don’t need to use as many of them as you would if you were trying to get good at largemouth bass fishing. For most situations, you can keep it real simple with a jighead and a minnow or soft plastic bait. To learn about some of the rigs that you can use, take a look at our best rigs for northern pike page.
Best Techniques for Northern Pike
Anglers catch pike with many different techniques. Casting, trolling and drifting are most popular ways to target pike, but there are some other methods that also work well too.
To learn more, take a look at our best techniques for northern pike page.
Learn More About Northern Pike
Our northern pike fishing section has tons of tips on the best lures, live baits, where to catch them and how to catch them.
Visit our northern pike fishing website to learn more.
